Mayhew On Wooing Suh: 'At The End Of The Day ... Money Talks'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew reiterated Thursday his belief the Lions can re-sign four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
When the Lions were engaged in talks with Suh's agent Jimmy Sexton before the 2014 season, Detroit had just stumbled through another losing campaign, dropping six of its last seven games, and had fired another head coach. With 2014 in the rearview mirror, the Lions approach negotiations as a team that won 11 games and has a leader - head coach Jim Caldwell - whom players want to follow.
Those factors, Mayhew said, bode well for the Lions.
"I think it does help," Mayhew said. "The fact that I think he really enjoys playing for Coach Caldwell benefits us in pursuing him and trying to get him to come back to us. He likes to win, I know that. I know he likes Coach Caldwell. I know he's very comfortable here in Detroit, so those things all play in our favor.
"At the end of the day, though, money talks," Mayhew added, "so we have to step up in terms of pursuing him financially as well."
Mayhew said the Lions would still be able to make some moves in free agency if they did a long-term deal with Suh, but he acknowledged that the sooner the contract gets done, the more Detroit will be able to do in other areas.
"It would benefit us to have an idea kind of where we're going with that because obviously it requires a certain amount of room to get that deal done, it requires a certain type of cash commitment to get that deal done, and it would slow other things down if that weren't done or if we were uncertain about whether it would get done or not," Mayhew said. "There's always been urgency to it. Even when we weren't talking there was urgency to it."
Any inconveniences of another large contract, however - quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson also have substantial deals - are worth the benefit of having Suh on the team, at least to hear Mayhew tell it.
"The drawbacks of a long-term deal with him? There's not a whole lot of drawbacks, from my standpoint," Mayhew said. "I'd like to have him here with us. He's a good player, and as I mentioned to you guys before, the good players tend to get paid more money. You have to be willing to pay those guys, and we're excited about what he did and what he has done for us in the past and what he can do for us in the future."
In the time since the Lions tried to sign Suh to an extension last offseason, Suh added another impressive line to his resume, and other defensive linemen around the league received monstrous contracts. Tampa Bay defensive tackle Gerald McCoy signed a seven-year extension worth $98 million, and Houston defensive end J.J. Watt received a six-year deal for $100 million.
Both those players signed with their current teams, however, rather than choosing from among multiple teams bidding for their services. Suh, as a free agent, is in a different position in that regard.
Mayhew said the Lions will keep Suh any way they can.
"We're going to leave every option open," Mayhew said. "We are willing to franchise him, transition him, whatever."
Of course, the Lions do have a ceiling.
"At any cost? No, I wouldn't say that," Mayhew said. "He certainly is a big priority for us, and he's an important part of our football team the last five years. I think the world of him. Had an opportunity to sit down and talk with him on Monday. We had a good conversation, and we look forward to working with him to try to get a deal done.
"He wants to be here, and we want him to be here, so as I said before, I think that's a pretty good combination," Mayhew added. "We'll see how that all plays out."
Mayhew would not say whether the Lions view Suh strictly as a defensive tackle or more broadly as a defensive playmaker. The classification, Mayhew suggested, would be a point of negotiation.
For the most part, in 2014 Suh avoided the type of incidents that led to his reputation as the bad boy of the NFL. He did receive a one-game suspension for stepping on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the regular season finale, but the suspension was overturned, and Mayhew agreed with that ruling.
"I didn't think the punishment fit the crime," Mayhew said. "I thought there was some question as to how intentional that that was, and I felt the outcome at the end of the day was a fair one."
Mayhew would not comment on whether discussions with Sexton have resumed or - if they have not already done so - when those conversations will pick up.
